Development and Validation of the General Learning Motivation Regulation Scale for Chinese High Middle School Students

Abstract

Motivation regulation has a profound effect on the students’ learning and associated achievement. Yet, to date, there is a lack of a brief and valid approach for systematically assessing the regu­lation of learning motivation from the perspective of psychometrics, especially for the high middle school students. This study develops a general scale for quantitatively assessing the learning motiva­tion regulation of high middle students, based on the combination of literature analysis and open‑ended interviews in china General Learning Motivation Regulation Scale for Chinese High Middle School Students (GLMR‑CHMSS). A total of 2,304 questionna­ires of high middle school students were included for item analysis and exploratory factor analysis, and another 2,304 questionnaires of high middle school students were subjected to confirmatory fac­tor analyses and a validation and reliability test. The scale con­sisted of 24‑items that can be divided into four factors: intrinsic motivation regulation, extrinsic motivation regulation, volitional behavioural regulation, and self‑efficacy regulation. As indica­ted by the confirmatory factor analysis with the control group, the four‑factor structure model of the GLMR‑CHMSS fitted well (χ2 /df=7.839, RMSEA=0.054, CFI=0.918, TLI=0.908). In ad­ dition, using academic achievement as the empirical validity crite­rion, the scores of each factor of GLMR‑CHMSS and the scale sco­re were significantly correlated with academic achievement were the reliability indicators. This study show cases a novel and va­lid tool for mesuring the degree of learning motivation regulation of high middle school students in China.